Manley John. The Atlas of Past Worlds. A Comparative Chronology of Human History 2000 BC-AD 1500

London: Cassell Publishers, 1993. — 224 p. — ISBN: 0-304-34456-7.When the mighty stones at Stonehenge were being erected, what was happening in the rest of the world? What gods were the people of these different cultures worshipping? Two thousand years later, when the splendour of Pompeii was abruptly brought to an end, which other empires existed in the world? John Manley's fascinating, fresh approach to world history answers these and many other questions.
Using five distinct 'time slices', The Atlas of Past Worlds sets out to compare five separate cultures within each selected time span. By taking a total of twenty-five archaeological sites, each with a significant place in history, the author reveals what happened within different civilizations at key periods of human history.
Sites are selected from five geographical areas - Europe, western Asia, Africa, eastern Asia and Oceania, and the Americas - and the story unfolds in 2000 BC, a time when complex societies emerged in all five areas of the world. The story continues through the subsequent key periods of 1000 BC, AD 1 and AD 1000 and concludes with ad 1500, after which many indigenous societies were modified or disrupted by European voyages of discovery.
Each of the five slices of time concentrates on a central theme - religion; political, social and economic structures; empires; new directions; and cities - thereby giving us an insight into the diversity of human experience and achievement. This diversity is heightened by the inclusion of less-celebrated settlements, for example El Paraiso and Kalemba, as well as celebrated sites, such as Petra and Easter Island.
John Manley's unique combination of times and places provides unexpected conclusions, and this exciting and thought-provoking comparative approach to human history is outstandingly illustrated by over 250 maps, plans, reconstructions, drawings and colour photographs.
John Manley is the author of the highly acclaimed Atlas of Prehistoric Britain. He is a professional and practising archaeologist and lectures on archaeology and ancient cultures. He is also an advisor to Fresco, a travel company specializing in cultural tours.